The New Kid
by killerbee07
Summary: "Sadie didn't think much of the new kid, but Drew certainly did- acting as if they were old friends or something. Maybe they were, maybe they weren't. Whatever the case, he didn't seem to be enjoying the attention." Now a series.
1. The New Kid

Sadie didn't think much of the new kid, but Drew certainly did- acting as if they were old friends or something. Maybe they were, maybe they weren't. Whatever the case, he didn't seem to be enjoying the attention.

"So, how's everything at camp?" Drew prompted, giving what Sadie guessed what was supposed to be a dazzling grin, though it was a bit of an overkill.

"Pretty much the same as when you left," The boy- Percy, Sadie thought his name was- shrugged. "A week ago, right? Well, Katie's still mad at the Stolls, Clarisse is still terrorizing the new kids, and Annabeth's still hard at work."

"That must be difficult," Drew brushed her fingers over his hand. "I mean, it sounds like with all the time she spends on her new project, she doesn't have any left over for you."

What Drew really meant, Sadie knew, was: _"You could do so much better, like… me, for instance. I need a boyfriend, come to the dark side, why don't you?"_

"Not really," Percy moved his hands to his lap. "She has plenty time for me."

"Well," Drew tossed her hair over her shoulder. "It doesn't seem that way to an outsider looking in."

"It's not really an outsider's business, is it?" Not a question, more of a challenge.

Sadie's mouth tugged up at the corner. _Well, he isn't totally suckered by her._

Drew fiddled with the hem of her skirt, pouting. "I was just making conversation. I didn't mean anything by it."

_Sure you didn't. _Sadie resisted slapping the girl upside the head.

Percy turned sheepish. "Sorry for snapping at you like that," he apologized.

_Ok, so he's not completely immune, but hey, what guy is?_

Drew gave a tentative smile (acting, Sadie knew, for there was no way 'tentative' was what Drew was really feeling).

"You obviously know your way around here," Percy said. "Why don't you tell me who's who?"

Drew perked up immediately. "Well," she said, and so began Drew's biased, narrow- minded tour of most of the student body.

Sadie tuned in and out of the conversation; hearing, and giving the occasional wince, at jabs aimed toward perfectly fine classmates and Brooklyn Housemates.

"Walt Stone, is like, super cute, but I think he's sick or something- at least, he was the last time I got a good look at him. All yellow-eyed and kind of hollow looking."—that one was particularly vicious, and it took all of Sadie's restraint to not barge in and say, "Yeah? Well, you don't look so good yourself." Walt's sickness, although long gone, was still a bit of a touchy subject.

Percy didn't look so fond of the description either, saying, "Has he seen a doctor? Is it something serious?"

Drew just shrugged. _Don't know, don't care._

Sadie's attention sharpened up again when she heard her name. "And that girl behind us, that's Sadie Kane. Don't waste your time on her."

"Why?" Percy frowned. "I think she looks nice."

"Yeah, Drew, why?" Sadie leaned forward, finally joining the conversation.

"For one," Drew sent a pointed glare at Sadie, "she eavesdrops."

"Kind of hard not to overhear," Sadie rolled her eyes. "I'm sitting right behind you."

Drew scowled

"Hey," Percy shot them both a nervous smile. "No need to get into it. Drew, we were talking relatively loud, and what you said was pretty rude."

Drew gave a snobbish, conceited noise in the back of her throat. "Trust me on this one, Percy. This _freshman_ is a total nobody."

"I'm cool with nobodies, in fact," he added, "I am a nobody."

Sadie found that hard to believe. With his long, dark hair; deep, sea-green eyes; and muscular build, he was almost certainly what one could call a 'babe magnet'.

Drew, probably thinking something along those same lines, gave an indulgent smile- trying to put a quick end to this little spat. "No, Percy, you are most definitely not a nobody."

Percy blinked. "It depends on who you ask." He turned away from her. "So, Sadie, right?"

"Right." Sadie didn't think the coming conversation would be so bad- but who knew, right? Any friend of Drew's was automatically on Sadie's "Persons- To- Avoid" list.

"I like your hair," he said. Purple was this week's highlights color.

"Thanks," Sadie leaned forward a little- always the fool for a compliment. "I'm thinking of going teal, though."

"Nice," he grinned. "Hey, is that an accent I hear?"

"Yeah." Sadie was surprised. "British- though, I'm impressed you picked up on it. It's faded since I moved to America."

"Well," Drew cut in. "I'd best get going. Places to go, people to see, and study hall is almost over." Picking up her purse, and giving Percy a pat on the arm, she left. Obviously knowing when things were going in a downhill direction.

"So," Sadie watched her saunter off. "What unfortunate twist of fate led you to Drew?"

"Summer camp," Percy nodded at Drew's vacant seat- an invitation. "I shouldn't complain, though. There are worse people out there."

"Worse, maybe," Sadie admitted as she moved up a row. "More annoying… it'll take a lot of looking to find someone to replace Drew."

He laughed.

_This just might be the beginning of a beautiful friendship, _Sadie thought, _if that laugh is one of agreement._

**Hey there! Hope you enjoyed it.**

**It's extremely unlikely this will become a full-fledged story- though, if enough people like it I may make it one.**

**Please review!**


	2. The Library

Annabeth scanned the shelves for the text she was looking for; not quite the quick-and-done job you would think, as she was dyslexic.

_Csol…colsi…colossi_

"Colossi of Memnon."

Annabeth spared the interrupter an annoyed glance. Maybe as old as she, with dark skin and a slight smile, he looked the type to strike up conversation with strangers out of pure nicety. Annabeth was not in the mood for conversation.

"Yeah," she said and turned back to the shelf, hoping he would get the hint. When he didn't move, she resigned herself to a swift exchange of words, adding. "You've heard of it?"

She'd only been asking in the hopes they'd have a quick talk and she'd be rid of him, but he replied in earnest. "Oh, yes. I've been there, actually."

Her interest sparked, Annabeth gave him a second look and took in all the details she'd dismissed before. Clean shirt, crisp kakis, and a correctly knotted tie (which was more than she could say for most of the boys she knew.)

"No kidding."

"I'm being serious," he assured her with an easy grin.

"I believe you," and for the first time since seeing him, gave a genuine smile. "So, how was it?"

"Amazing. I mean, they tell you the columns are big, they give you the measurements, but you don't really get it until you're standing right next to one." The boy gave pause. "And here I was, thinking I was the only one who cared about this musty, old stuff."

Annabeth peered out onto the rest of the library through a gap in the books.

Computers? Taken. YA section? Stuffed. Audio books? Checked out. History…? They were the only ones.

Annabeth shrugged. "Old, musty stuff is more important than most people realize. Besides, I'm crazy about monuments." She plucked the book out of its place and added it to her stack.

"Taj Mahal, PotalaPalace, Acropolis of Athens," The boy read up the stack. "Wow. You are crazy about monuments."

Annabeth nodded.

"Carter," the boy introduced himself, holding out a hand.

"Annabeth," she reached around her ever-growing tower of library books to shake it.

**Hey there! Sorry it took so long, I was conflicted as to where I should take the story. Multi-chapter? Couple of onexshots? So many choices! But, in the end, I decided to make a series of connected onexshots.**

**Thank you for being so patient, and (if you even still care about this story) thank you for sticking with it while I wallowed in indecision. :D**


	3. Eat Fresh

Cleo wasn't good with confrontations, but she couldn't just _let_ the two boys get away with it.

Sitting in a secluded booth at the back of a nearly empty Subway, she had looked up from her book, which she hadn't really reading (she'd been listening to the boys give their strange order), and her eyes had fallen upon them almost immediately. Soft brown hair, and devilish grins (nearly identical except in height), they'd fit the part of the mischievous pranksters perfectly. They were exactly the kind of boys you would expect trouble from.

The taller of the two had reached over the counter and nicked a yellow condiments bottle.

They'd huddled over it, blocking Cleo's view, then dropped it back over the counter and rushed over to a table near the window, the booth in front of Cleo's.

Now, she sat with her eyes screwed shut. She had no desire to talk to them, she didn't really like talking to anyone outside Brooklyn House, but she knew the right thing to do would be to call them out on it. She took a deep breath and stood, turning to face them. "That wasn't nice, you know."

The boy's looked up grinning, not in the least bit perturbed at being caught.

"Oh, don't worry," the shorter one said, messing with his green hat.

"It's not like it'll be fatal or anything." The taller one shrugged.

"Unless Katie finally has that heart attack she's been promising us." Said the shorter one.

"But whatever you did to that bottle—" Cleo tried again.

"Won't hurt her, not really." Deciding he liked the way his hat was situated, he held out a hand. "I'm Connor."

"Cleo," Cleo reached for his hand, then hesitated.

"No shock buzzer, nothing sticky," he assured her.

"I still wouldn't shake it, though, if I were you," the other one told her. "You can't even begin to guess where those hands have been, but I know, and just let me tell you—"

"And this is my _dearest_ brother, Travis." Connor cut him off. "His hands have been all the same places mine have, might I add."

"Oh," Cleo said, unsure what to say. "Okay… good to know. But the bottle—"

Connor's eye's trailed to her book, which she clutched in both arms at her side. "You _read?_" He sounded incredulous.

"Now, now, Connor," Travis chided. "Some people read for enjoyment. And Cleo does seem the type, doesn't she?"

"I guess," Connor said slowly, still looking at the cover of the book.

Cleo looked down at the volume—dusty and decrepit; she'd pulled it off one of the library's many shelves that morning, looking for quick, easy read. "It's about Egyptian mummification and burial rituals." She said, thinking maybe it was an appropriate comment for the circumstances. Seeing their bewildered looks, she added, "Old Kingdom Egypt."

"Right," Connor said. "That…"

"…makes total sense." Travis finished for him.

Cleo frowned, trying to decide if they really didn't know what the Old Kingdom was or if they were just joking. She shook her head. "But really, _about the bottle_—"

"Hey, there she is," Connor nodded toward the counter.

The single worker had come from the back room, Travis's complicated order in hand. Short-ish brown hair pulled up in a ponytail and deep green eyes, she was cute without being the conventional kind of pretty. She looked fairly nice, someone you could trust to handle food. Although, Cleo could swear the girl had dirt on her hands. That had to be some sort of health code violation.

She glared at them. "Five foot long spicy ham with two strips of bacon, three slices of cheddar cheese, four slices of American cheese, five slices of Blue cheese, six slices of Colby Jack cheese, and jalapeños."

Travis shook his head. "You forgot the mustard! Katie, I thought better of you."

"You never said you wanted mustard." That was true, Cleo had listened in on their order. "And besides, mustard on a sandwich like _this?_"

"You question my taste!?" Travis really did sound insulted.

"By the gods, Katie, this isn't the time for criticizing Travis's taste buds. The man is hungry! Starving, practically!" Connor said right after.

Katie sighed. "Whatever." Her hand went to the bottle of mustard.

Cleo tried to catch the Katie's eye. She shook her head. She even said, "Umm, excuse me but…" But she was too quiet. Conner heard, though, and reached to pull her into the booth, holding a finger to his lips.

As it turned out, Cleo's shy, desperate attempts to warn the girl were not necessary. Katie's hand froze then pulled back. She narrowed her eyes at Travis. "What's wrong with it? What's going to happen?"

"Nothing! I just decided I want mustard." Travis assured her.

She reached under the counter and pulled out a pair of tongs. Reaching arm's length, she lifted the bottle of mustard out of its place. She plunked it down on the counter, and when nothing happened, edged toward it.

Her hand reached out and grasped it. Lifting it, she headed over to the sandwich.

"See?" Connor said. "Nothing happened."

Then Katie tipped it over and squeezed. It exploded.

"Ah!" She gave a short, strangled scream. Wiping mustard off her face, she glared at the boys. "TRAVIS!"

"No, no, no need, Katie." Travis said around his laughter.

Connor clarified, "Cleo here has already chewed us out."

Katie turned her glare toward Cleo, then softened upon seeing the misery written on her face. Cleo shrugged in a helpless fashion. "Sorry," she said. Katie couldn't hear her over Travis and Connor's laughter, Cleo was sure, but Katie still nodded, and turned her attention back to the boys.

Still caught up in fits and bursts of laughter, they didn't notice when Katie spit in the sandwich. Wrapping it up, she walked her mustard-soaked self over and threw it on the table. "Thank you for coming to Subway, Eat Fresh, and remember: when summer comes, you'd better watch your backs."

Marching back to the counter, she picked up a rag and began cleaning up.

Cleo made her way over and found another rag. "Sorry." She apologized again. "I did try and warn you, but, I mean, I was too quiet. I usually am."

"Don't worry," Katie said. "I'm used to it, that's just how the Stoll brothers have always been. Besides, I'll have my revenge." Katie grinned.

They worked to the sound of the Stoll brother's dying laughter. Then, Cleo asked. "What did you mean when you said that thing about summer coming, and them watching their backs?"

"We go to the same summer camp," Katie explained.

"That must be tough." Cleo remarked.

"Nah, not really. I mean, they can be annoying, but it's easy enough to get back at them. The camp director doesn't really care what us campers do, as long as we don't bother him."

"Oh." Cleo nodded. "And… um, why, when they were baiting you into picking up the mustard… did I mishear or did Connor say 'by the gods'?"

"You heard right, at least, that's what I heard." Katie shrugged. "No idea what he meant by that. He's crazy, you know. They both are."

Before Cleo had a chance to say anything else, Connor's voice floated across the counter. "Cleo, you read Egyptian?"

Cleo looked over to see the Stoll brothers; munching on the sandwich, they were leaving mustard finger prints all over the precious pages.

"What are you doing!" She shouted, horror stricken. They looked up in shock. "Do you know how old that is, how rare?" She ran and snatched the book away from them. "Countless professors would give their lives to read this book, and you go flipping through the pages like it's a picture book! Do you have no regard for the sanctity of ancient artifacts!"

"You read Egyptian?" Connor repeated.

"Yes, I can read Egyptian." Cleo confirmed, fussing over the pages. There was a chance the stains could be removed with hieroglyphs, but not here. Not in front of these oafs. She'd have to get to it before the mustard left any permanent damage, but she wasn't quite done letting out steam. "I can't believe you! You irresponsible, irksome—"

"Gods, Connor, we've unleashed her inner Katie!" Travis exclaimed.

"No, I'd say we're seeing her inner Annabeth." Connor responded.

"Don't talk about me as if I'm not here, and I don't care who I remind you of!" Cleo stamped her foot. "Do you have any idea how priceless this is? Do you know how many texts remain from the Old Kingdom? Not very many, I can tell you, and if you think you can just go around ruining them… well…"

Cleo shook her head indignantly. "Katie, get them back good, will you?"

Katie saluted her.

Cleo stormed out of the shop, holding the book gingerly.

"Eat fresh!" One of the brothers yelled after her.

**Holy crap, guys, I was stunned that so many people were still interested in the story! Thank you!**

**And, addressing the confusion: These will be a series of _connected_ onexshots. Meaning I'll have different onexshots about different characters, but there may be more than one part, or there will be different onexshots about the same characters, playing off the situations they were in the onexshot before. That'll go on until they figure out each other's cultures. Does that make sense? If not just tell me and I'll try and explain it better.**

**Also, does anyone know why there is always an X between one and shot? I did it because it seems to be a tradition, but I don't really understand it.**


	4. The Penguin Puppy

Felix leaned against the cage, studying the huddle of penguins.

"Look!" Felix cried out. "Phineas keeps stealing Mayberry's fish! That must be why he's so fat!"

"Right," Sadie agreed, sounding tired. She was sitting, back against the plexi glass window, her head lolling against her shoulder as she rapidly clicked buttons on her gameboy. "Mystery solved. Now, let's go."

"You know, maybe if you actually looked at the penguins like I do you wouldn't be so bored." Felix scowled and turned back to the animals.

Sadie shook her head. "Felix, why do we have to come here? Why can't you just conjure up some penguins and play with them back at the house, like you used to?"

"Because, Carter said I'm not allowed to call them until I can put them back." Felix said. "Besides, I want to see if zoo penguins act different then regular penguins."

"Who cares what Carter says?" Sadie countered. "And really, aren't they all penguins? I bet they act the same."

"No." Felix said. "We've only been here 20 minutes and I can already tell zoo penguins are lazier and meaner."

Sadie sighed. "Isn't 20 minutes long enough?"

Felix rolled his eyes. "No, it's not."

Sadie said something else, but Felix had lost interest in what was happening on his side of the glass.

A new animal had emerged from the pack, and the other penguins were trying frantically to get away from it. "Sadie." Felix breathed. "Sadie, it's a penguin puppy." The creature had the face of a dog, but its body was grey and sleek. It was a penguin puppy. It had to be!

"Uh huh." Sadie nodded. "That's right."

"No, Sadie, really!" Felix started jumping up and down. "Sadie, look."

"A penguin puppy? You're going to have to do better than that, Felix." Sadie snorted, but didn't take her eyes off her video game. "It'll take more than that to get me interested."  
Felix put his hands up on the glass, enraptured. "Wow."

Eyes locked on the creature, Felix reached for the disposable camera Carter had thought to buy him for the trip.

He was about to click the button, when something new, something silver, moved at the edge of the tank.

A girl. She had dark, spiked hair and was wearing a thin silver wind jacket. A metallic circlet flashed on her head. She was crouched low, clearly eyeing the penguin puppy.

Felix lowered the camera. "Sadie, now there's a girl in a silver jacket."

"Silver jacket?" Sadie yawed. "That sounds rather garish."

The girl drew an arrow from a quiver strapped to her back. Funny, Felix hadn't noticed it before. She raised a bow and notched the arrow.

A bad feeling bloomed in Felix's stomach. "Sadie…" Felix watched as the girl took aim. "Sadie! She's gonna kill it!"

The girl released the arrow and he cried out in alarm. "NO!"

Several things happened spontaneously. Multiple passers-by looked over in curiosity. Sadie whirled and finally looked in on the penguins. And the penguin puppy crumbled to nothing.

"What?" Sadie asked.

"It's gone. It's dead." Felix was horrified.

Sadie sighed, "Huh. Good job, Felix. You got me to look."

"Sadie, I'm telling the truth!" Felix said. "Look!"

He pointed, and Sadie saw the girl in the silver jacket disappear through a door disguised to look like an iceberg.

"That's her?" Sadie asked.

"Yes!"

Sadie turned to study Felix. "Did you_ really _see a penguin puppy?"

"Yes! That's what I've been telling you this whole time!" Felix was fed up to say the least.

"Huh." Sadie nodded after a few moments of silent study. "You know, I'll bet that door lets out at the employee entrance we saw by the concession stand. We could still catch her."

"Let's go!" Felix took off, partly relieved Sadie was finally paying attention, and partly enraged that someone would dare kill something as magnificent as a penguin puppy.

Pushing past sweaty sightseers, they made their way over to the concession stand just in time to see the girl in the silver jacket walking toward the zoo exit.

"Hey!" Felix called, but she didn't turn.

"You, girl with the bow and arrows!" Sadie tried, getting the desired response.

The girl turned on her heel and, seeing them barreling toward her, frowned.

"What did you do that for!" Felix cried when they caught up to her. "That penguin puppy did nothing!"

"…Penguin puppy?" The girl asked, startled.

"Thalia!" Another girl in a silver jacket called from across the crowd. "Did you get it?"

"I got it, Pheobe!" The culprit, Thalia, called back.

"'Got it'? You think this is a game?" Felix challenged. "That penguin puppy did nothing."

"Look, kid, that telkhine messed with us before we ever messed with it," Thalia put her hands to her hips.

"Well, I don't know what a _telkhine_ is, but I do know that penguin puppy didn't do anything wrong." Felix shot back.

The second silver-jacketed girl finally arrived at the confrontation. "Who's this?" She asked, looking down at Felix, a mixture of annoyance and disgust playing out on her face.

"Were you in on it too? Did you help kill that penguin puppy?" Felix scowled at her.

"Oh." The girl, Pheobe, said, rolling her eyes. "Come, Thalia, the lady awaits."

"Don't you go anywhere! We're not done with you!" Sadie finally spoke.

Thalia turned to Pheobe, shrugged, then turned back to Felix and Sadie.

"You didn't see me do anything. You aren't angry." Thalia snapped her fingers.

"What are you talking about?" Felix rolled his eyes. "You killed the penguin puppy."

"Huh?" Sadie said. "Hey…" she squinted at Thalia. "You know, you look kind of familiar."

"And it just disappeared!" Felix added. "Where did it go!"

Thalia stared puzzled at Felix until Pheobe nudged her arm. "We don't have time for little boys who can defy the mist."

The girls turned away.

"Hey!" Felix shouted. "Get back here."

"You look _really _familiar!" Sadie said. "Where have I seen you before?"

The girls melted into the crowd.

"Where have I seen her before?" Sadie muttered to herself.

"Maybe when she killed the penguin puppy!" Felix turned on her. "Sadie, I thought you believed me! I thought you were trying to help!"

"Umm…" Sadie was starting to feel a bit dizzy, and her mind was clouded, she couldn't remember… "Let's go home."

"Gah!" Felix kicked a trash can.

-0-

Felix marched purposefully into the library.

"Cleo?" He called.

"Over here!" Her voice rang through the shelves, coming from a table in the corner.

Felix walked over, and saw her hunched over a book that appeared to be stained with something like mustard.

"Cleo, could you tell me what a telkhine is?" Felix requested.

Cleo sat back in her chair. Frowning, thinking. Finally, she said, "That's Greek."

"But, what is it?" Felix insisted.

"Face of a dog, body of a seal, they play various roles in greek mythology—"

"They aren't half penguin?" Felix asked.

"Um, no," Cleo said, surprised.

Felix slowly felt the anger draining out of him. "Oh. Are you sure?"

"Pretty sure." Cleo answered.

"Okay. Well, goodbye, then." Felix turned away. "Thank you."

"No problem." Cleo stared at his retreating back in confusion. "Felix?"

"Yeah," He faced her again.

"Why did you want to know?"

"I saw one today."

Cleo frowned. "You _thought_ you saw one, you mean."

Felix growled, old anger returning for a different reason. "You're just like Sadie!" Then he marched out of the library, leaving Cleo standing stunned.

**Thank you for the overwhelming positive response, please keep it coming!**

**Also, I'm thinking of what to rename the story, but I can't settle on anything. Suggestions?**


	5. That's Thalia Again

Sadie plopped her bag on the desk next to Percy's.

In the past weeks, they'd developed what Sadie thought of as a 'baby friendship'. Still new, somewhat fragile, but definitely working.

"So," She slumped in her chair. "Bad news. Failing science."

"Bad news," Percy replied. "Failing pretty much everything. Already."

"Man," Sadie held up her hand for a high five, "We are good."

Percy just shook his head, refusing to see it in that light. "Seriously, Sadie. I have to keep my grades up."

"Not necessarily. They don't keep you here for grades, they keep you here for…" Sadie trailed off. "Hey, what _are_ you in here for?"

"Swimming." Percy said.

"Right." Sadie nodded—not in the least surprised he was here for something athletic. "They keep you here for swimming."

"But that doesn't mean I can just coast by with a bad GPA," Percy shook his head. "Especially not with a permanent record like mine."

"Why?" Sadie perked up, suddenly that much more interested in the conversation. "What's on your permanent record?"

"Oh, you know," Percy shrugged, not really answering her question.

Sadie was about to insist that she didn't know, when he said. "Hey, what are you here for?"

"Drama," Sadie answered. "Now, about your record-"

"Oh, that's cool." Percy interrupted. "What kind of things do you like to act?"

"What kind of…" Sadie shook off the effects of his puzzling wording and got down to business. "Not the point, Percy. What's on your record?"

Percy sighed. "I just… have a tendency to draw trouble."

"I know the feeling," Sadie answered honestly. "But, Percy, I want details. Big, juicy details."

"Can we just not talk about it?" Percy came right out and asked.

"Come on," Sadie shamelessly begged. "The less you say, the more tempted I'll be to just go and steal the actual file for myself."

Percy looked over at her sharply, then exhaled. "The terrifying thing is I really think you'll do it."

"Is that a yes?" Sadie asked, hope blatant in her tone.

"One little detail," Percy admonished. "Then we're done talking about it."

Sadie motioned for him to continue.

"In seventh grade, I was accused of blowing up the school gymnasium." Percy said. "But that's not what happened at all," he rushed on, "they lifted the charges after a while, and that's all behind us now."

"How the heck did something like that get blamed on you?" Sadie asked. Sure, he was a little mischievous, but really? A gym?

"Like I said," Percy shrugged. "I attract trouble."

"I get the feeling there's more to it." Sadie encouraged him to elaborate.

"You said you'd let it go-"

"If you told me a detail." Sadie reminded him. "That was not a detail. That was more of a teaser."

"Fine," Percy huffed, rolling his eyes, getting exasperated (as all who hold a conversation with Sadie Kane eventually do). "We were playing dodge ball, the locker room exploded, and I sort of ran." Percy shrugged. "It made me look guilty. That's all."

Sadie nodded slowly, knowing a lie when she saw one. "If that's really _all_ there is to it…"

"Yes."

After a moment of thought Sadie decided to let it go. She knew she was pushing a bit far (as she had a tendency to do) and besides, she could always force more out of him later.

"So, science." Percy said. "What are they teaching in 9th grade these days, anyway?"

"Gah," Sadie grimaced. "The hard stuff."

"There's always hard stuff." Percy shook his head. "If you think you get it all over with your freshmen year, you're going to be sorely disappointed."

"Wise words," Sadie nodded sagely.

"Hey, Percy," Drew came up from behind them.

"Drew," He greeted politely.

"Do you have that history assignment done?" She asked.

"Uh, yeah." Percy answered. "Not with me, though."

"Great. Do you think I could borrow your book?"

"It's in my locker." Percy said.

"Then we'll just have to go to your locker, won't we?" Drew smiled. An evil smile, in Sadie's opinion. The kind of smile Disney movie villains gave before making their final, most evil move.

"Sure." Percy rose, then looked at Sadie.

"Don't worry," Sadie stood, and added quietly, "I'll protect you."

Percy rolled his eyes.

"Besides, I was just about to go to the gymnasium. Your locker is in that direction, right?" Sadie slung her backpack over her shoulder.

"Right." Percy confirmed.

With a nod to the supervising teacher, they made their way out into the hallway, and down the row of blue metal lockers, to a rather dented up one. Spinning in the combination, he opened the door.

Inside it was rather bare, with just a few taped up pictures.

"This is it?" Drew asked.

"Home sweet home." Percy nodded, reaching in for the book. "Here."

"Thanks, Perce. I owe you one," Drew said.

"No problem," Percy answered, but Drew was already sauntering away.

"You know what I think?" Sadie asked.

"What?"

"You just doomed yourself." Sadie sounded absolutely sure in this. "She needed a personal object of yours, and now that she has one, she can direct the full force of her dark magic your way."

"You think that text book counts as a personal object?" Percy raised an eyebrow. "And stop making her out to be some unredeemable, evil force. She's not that bad. The worst she's ever done to me is nail me in the head with a shoe. It was a heel, but it was an accident."

Percy made as if to close the locker door, but Sadie stopped him. "Hey, I know her!"

"Huh?"

Sadie pointed to one of the pictures. "The punk girl. Thalia, right?"

"How…?" Percy shook his head.

"At the zoo." Sadie told him. "Felix, this little kid I babysit for, he was convinced she snuck into one of the cages and killed one of the animals. I think… I think…" She trailed off. "Funny. I can't remember."

Percy scowled. "Yeah, that sounds like her."

"You think she really killed it?" Sadie asked.

Percy closed the door. "I think it wasn't what Felix thought it was. But, that being said, Thalia does enjoy the hunt."

"I remember thinking she looked familiar." Sadie remarked.

Percy shrugged. "She's my cousin. I'm not sure how much family resemblance there is, though."

Sadie thought on it. "Yeah, that was probably it."

"Come on," Percy set off down the hallway. "Gymnasium, you said?"

**And there you have it. Yes, it was the family resemblance that made Sadie think Thalia looked familiar. Really, people, I tried my best to make Drew seem slightly okay (because some of you asked) but I'm not sure how good I did :S**

**Also, thank you for all the new title suggestions. I think I'm gonna go with 'Encounters of the other kind' (Just letting you know so those of you who don't have an account and therefore can't automatically follow it will know what to look for…if you want to keep reading this story.)**

**One more thing! (I promise) Thank you all so much! I got to 100 reviews, and I've gotta say, I'm kind of amazed!**


	6. Of All the Nights

**Just a warning:**** I did leave the cuss word in, but this will probably be the last time I will use curses in this story. I've left a big, friendly -0- where the preview ends and what you haven't read begins. Enjoy, thank you for being so patient!**

_Of all the nights this could have happened, he chose tonight. The night Carter leaves me in charge._

Sadie was running through Brooklyn at one o'clock in the morning on account of Felix and his insane plan to free the penguins from the zoo.

Looking back on it, it should have been obvious he was planning something. His Christmas wish list: lock picks, burglar mask, penguin whistle, flashlight. Sadie really should have been preparing for this night for a long time. But, in her defense, so should Cater have.

Sadie took another sharp corner, gasping as she grasped the stitch in her side. _These lungs weren't made for running after crazy fast boys. _

Sadie spotted him up ahead. He may have been more fit than her, but she had longer legs. "Gottcha!" She gasped to herself, regretting the waste of precious breath immediately afterwards.

Sadie pushed herself. _Just a little bit father._ Felix turned a corner. _Come on, Sadie, don't lose him now!_ She made as if to turn the corner herself.

Then: _WHAM!_ Her head cracked against something solid, and she fell to the ground.

Sadie grasped her face, which was throbbing in pain.

She thought maybe Felix had conjured a wall or something, but then someone groaned, "What the fuck!"

Sadie opened one eye and saw a goth kid, about the same age as her, sprawled out on the ground beside her. His long black hair mostly hid his face, but it was obvious he was in as much pain as she was.

**-0-**

His hand went to his forehead, and he gasped. "That's gonna bruise."

"So is mine," Sadie said.

His eyes shot open and he grimaced. "You have a hard head."

"Right back at you." Sadie rolled onto her back, thought about sitting up, and then decided it was too soon. Sadie sighed. _So much for catching up to Felix._

She was going to have a long night of damage control.

"Why were you running like that?" The boy groaned. He was now clutching his face like Sadie.

"Chasing after someone." Sadie replied. "I almost had him, too. Hey, how did you not run into him, but you ran into me?"

"I just stepped out," the boy replied.

"Just stepped out?" Sadie asked, doubtfully looking around. All she could see were warehouses.

"Uh, yeah," the boy said, as if just realizing where he was, and how odd 'just stepping out' would seem.

Sadie propped herself up and gave her forehead one last good rub. Looking down on him, she noticed a couple things she hadn't before. For one, he was extremely pale. Chalk pale. Like _never-seen-the-sun_ pale. Another was the knife strapped to his side; sharp and black, it seemed almost to eat light.

"Whatever." Sadie said. She didn't want to get into it with a knife-wielding kid who spent his free time in the warehouse district.

She tottered to her feet and leaned against the building. "Bye," Sadie said, then not knowing what to call him, finished with a lame, "kid."

He groaned what Sadie supposed was a farewell.

She left him lying on the sidewalk.

-0-

Sadie was too late.

She arrived at the zoo out of breath, her head still pounding, to find something much worse than she had expected. Felix was gone. The penguins were gone. And, looking around, every other animal in every other enclosure was gone as well.

Felix had really outdone himself.

Felix was grounded forever.

Sadie stood silent for a moment, then inhaled, exhaled, and climbed back over the fence surrounding the zoo lot.

The right thing to do would be to go tell Carter. He would be able to get the animals back before someone, like a night guard, noticed.

Of course, Sadie could do it herself. She could say she didn't want to interrupt Carter and Zia's romantic dinner date, and just fix things her way. She could hunt down Felix (she had no idea where to start looking), get him to return the penguins (which would be hard, because they would be summoning an entire freaking zoo) and return home for a relaxing night in front of the television with her charges (which had been the original plan).

But, Carter would get upset when he found out (because he always found out about these sorts of things). And, in the _miniscule_ chance that Sadie messed up, he would never leave her in charge again.

For the first, and probably last, time, _Better safe than sorry_, was Sadie Kane's line of thinking.

-0-

Sadie wound her way through the streets, making her way toward the restaurant Carter had taken Zia to.

She wasn't paying much attention to the world around her; staring at her reluctantly walking feet, dreading the look on Carter's face when she told him Felix had completely emptied a zoo.

Sadie grimaced and looked up, knowing she was almost to the place, when she spotted a familiar face.

"You again?" She asked.

His eyes swiveled and locked on her. "Me again. My head still hurts, you know."

"I know," Sadie said. "So does mine."

"Did you catch whoever you were chasing after?" The boy asked.

"No," Sadie sighed. "Which is really unfortunate. I'm on my way to break some very bad news. I may or may not get murdered."

"Sucks for you," the boy smiled. "Hey, you think you could give me directions?"

"Well, since you asked politely."

He gave her the name of the place.

"That's where I'm going, actually," Sadie raised an eyebrow. "What business do you have there?"

"I've actually got some troubling news to break as well," he answered. He held out a hand. "I'm Nico, by the way."

"Sadie," Sadie shook it. "Let's get going. Bad news can't be kept waiting for long."

The walk to the restaurant was uneventful. They chatted a bit, Sadie found out Nico was on his way to see his cousin, and she told Nico she was on her way to talk to her brother.

When they finally arrived, Sadie stood at the door, taking a moment to brace herself. "Here we go," she muttered and stepped inside.

As it turned out, Carter and Zia were in seats right by the door, so it didn't take long to find them.

It took even less time for Carter to figure out something was wrong.

"What happened," he sighed.

"Well, I kind of may have let Felix…" Sadie shifted on her feet. "It wasn't on purpose, you know! I didn't even know what he was planning."

"Get to it," Carter ordered.

"Well, Felix emptied the zoo. I don't know where the animals are, and I don't know where he is. I thought it would be best to come get you, seeing as I'm a really responsible, level headed person and stuff." Sadie said in one breath.

Carter sat still for a moment, shot Zia a despairing look, then stood. "Sadie, how did you not realize what Felix was up to?"

"I did realize! I even chased after him!" Sadie shot a look at Nico, who was still standing beside her, watching the whole thing. "But I got held up."

"An entire zoo?" Carter sounded upset. Very upset. "How? How did you get held up?"

"Umm… I ran into someone." Sadie fiddled with her thumbs.

"And decided to stop and chat, is that it?" He was heading from upset to furious.

"No, we bonked heads! I literally ran into someone!" Sadie assured him. "This guy!" She pointed at Nico, then raised her hand a little higher and lifted his bangs. "See, it's bruising!"

"There's no bruise, Sadie," Carter said tightly.

"We did run into each other, though." Nico said. "And what do you mean 'Felix emptied the zoo'?"

Carter's attention shifted off Nico and went back to Sadie. "Do you have any idea where Felix might be now? Did you check the house?"

"Ummm… I don't know. I came straight here. Because I'm responsible and stuff, remember?"

Carter sighed. He turned to Zia, said something Sadie couldn't make out, then turned and stormed toward the door.

Sadie tensed, thinking, _if he's coming for me, I can always shove Nico at him and make a quick get-away. _But that wasn't necessary. Carter went past her and exited the restaurant.

Zia soon followed, saying shortly. "Come on. Let's go find Felix."

Sadie looked at Nico. "Well, bye, Nico."

"Your friend emptied a zoo?" He sounded incredulous.

Sadie shrugged. "It's not what it sounds like," she tried to make it out as nothing big. "Please don't tell anyone."

"Okay." Nico nodded slowly. "But, seriously, what—"

The door swung shut behind Sadie.

Nico stared after her for a minute, then shook his head. "Alright. Nice meting you, Sadie." He went further into the restaurant in search of Percy and Annabeth.

Never mind the confusing news Sadie had needed to deliver, he had news of his own.


	7. Would You Like a Ride?

It was months before Cleo encountered the Stoll brothers again.

The snow clung to the branches of trees, glittering in the streetlights of Manhattan.

Manhattan was rather a long way to go for birthday shopping, but Shelby, the youngest of the ankle biters, had taken to an odd form of scrying with her crayons. Cleo didn't know how the five year old did it, but it was very effective.

Cleo also knew Shelby would be trying her best to figure out what she was going to get for her birthday, and as Manhattan was somewhat harder for Shelby to view than other places (for reasons Cleo couldn't guess) she'd decided to take her shopping needs there.

The drawback, however, was that Cleo was much less familiar with the west side of the river. So, frustrated to no end, she huddled over a street map with large red letters declaring "YOU ARE HERE". 'Here' was still three blocks away from where she needed to be. It was really quite embarrassing, not being able to navigate such a simple layout.

Sighing, she shoved her hands deeper into her pockets, and trundled along, resisting the call of a hot coco stand.

Cleo's eyes darted around the street, determined not to miss the Toy's-R-Us she _knew_ was near, when she saw them. Standing on a park bench, they were encouraging impromptu Christmas caroling. (Which wasn't going very smoothly, as they were both singing different songs, and it was too cold to even consider standing still for something as trivial as caroling. Also, Christmas was long gone and they were plunging into January.)

Cleo rolled her eyes, then sighed when she spotted the Toy's-R-Us behind the Stoll's bench. She resigned herself to crossing the street; thinking, hoping, they wouldn't recognize her. After all, they'd only met once.

But, apparently, she'd left an impression.

"Hey!" She could tell it was Connor, recalling he was the shorter of the two.

Cleo made a quick decision to duck her head and try to make a getaway, pretending not to notice them, or pretend not to notice they were talking to_ her._

"Yeah!" Said the other one, Travis. "Carrie!"

"Idiot," Connor snorted. "It's Cleo, right?"

"Right." Cleo stopped and muttered under her breath.

She felt them coming up behind her, and flinched when Connor said, "Here's an idea, why don't you come carol with us? You look like you could use some Christmas spirit."

"No, I'm sorry," Cleo refused as politely as she could, backing away, clutching the book she'd brought (just in case there were any long, boring lines she had to stand in) protectively to her chest. "I really need to get some shopping done. But thanks for the offer." She spared them a smile.

Connor gave her a critical eye. "Oh, shopping?"

"Hey, that's what we were here for!" Travis exclaimed.

"Oh, yeah," Connor said, as if just remembering.

The twins looked shocked at the revelation. "Well, you two had better get on it, and so should I. Goodbye." Cleo nodded her head and set course for the shop door.

"What do you think this store has?" Cleo scowled when she heard the boys fall into step behind her. It wasn't that she hated them, she didn't, she just got the feeling they drew more trouble than she was prepared to deal with. She didn't like trouble, and she'd had enough of it to last her a lifetime.

"Don't know, Travis. Toys, maybe?" Cleo could picture Connor pairing an eye roll with this sarcastic statement.

"Right," Travis nodded. "That would make sense. Just checking."

"So, who are you shopping for, Cleo?" Connor asked.

"A girl I babysit for," Cleo answered.

"Cool," Connor said. "What are you going to get her?"

Cleo thought on it. "A doll, maybe."

"You don't know yet?" Travis chided.

"Well, who are you shopping for? What are you going to get them?" Cleo challenged as she surveyed the store, looking for the correct aisle.

"Hmmm…" Connor's face screwed up. "We could get Annabeth some crayons and paper."

"And Katie wanted a new spade." Travis put in.

"You're hardly going to find a spade here," Cleo said and gestured at the plastic toy wonderland.

"Yeah, I suppose not." Travis shrugged.

-0-

Cleo managed to lose the brothers in a particularly crowded aisle, then beelined for the checkout.

Cleo made her way down the street, bracing herself for another half hour of the wandering she called navigation that would be necessary to get back to the bus that let out near Brooklyn House.

She'd only been walking for ten minutes when a series of rapid honks sounded behind her. Cleo spun around, searching the street for the maniac driver, and backpedaled and nearly fell over when she saw two nearly identical figures occupying the cabin of a rusty blue pickup truck.

"Hey Cleo, need a lift?" Travis called out the window.

"Can you even drive?" Cleo asked as the car pulled to a stop next to her.

"Well, we are, aren't we?" Connor pointed out.

"That's not what I meant," Cleo said, then spotted a particularly vulgar bobble head on the dashboard.

"Oh, that," Connor said, following her glance. "Don't worry, that's not ours."

"Then what's it doing in your car?" Cleo wondered.

The brothers exchanged knowing grins.

"This is your car, right?" Cleo demanded, catching on. "Right?"

"Well, it's borrowed." Travis hedged.

Cleo's eyes went wide as she saw a tangle of exposed wires and no key in the ignition. "You hotwired this car?"

"Don't worry, we know the guy," Connor assured her.

"And he won't mind," Travis added.

"Much." Connor shrugged. "You want that ride or not?"

"Do I want to be driven home by _dois malucos_ in a stolen car?" Cleo asked incredulously.

"Is that a yes?"

"I think that's a yes."

"No!" Cleo exclaimed. "That is most certainly a no!"

"Alright," Connor sighed. "But you're skipping out on a perfectly fine offer."

"It is not 'perfectly fine'." Cleo scowled. "It's illegal and I hardly know you two. You could be kidnappers for all I know. You've already proven to be felons."

A particularly strong gust of wind struck at that moment.

"You really want to walk in this weather?" Travis asked.

"Yes." Cleo told him.

"Okay," Connor put up his hands in mock surrender. "But when you are lying on the side of the road, dying of frostbite, remember how generous we tried to be."

The car pulled away from the shoulder, taking the Stoll brothers with it.

"_Loucos_," Cleo muttered to herself. "They are, without a doubt, insane."

**And there it is!**

**Thanks to DemiGoddess2012 for reminding me that Cleo spoke Portuguese and for the translation help.**


	8. Why Does He Even Try?

Felix sat (moped, really) on the curb.

In the shop behind him, Sadie was purchasing hair dye. In the library down the block, Cleo was no doubt having the time of her life. Felix…Felix was bored out of his mind, still paying for the 'irresponsible stunt' he pulled at the zoo.

Felix didn't get why he was still being punished. All those poor animals were back in their cages—wasn't that punishment enough?

Felix eyed the bus stop across the street; longing to catch a ride to the zoo, the grocery store, even school. Anything but his room at Brooklyn House, anything but this stinking curb (which he'd been sitting on for more than 30 minutes.)

But, Felix scowled, he couldn't. Sadie had used Zia's magic ribbons to tie him to a bike rack, so he wasn't going anywhere.

When he'd insisted on fresh air, this hadn't been what he meant.

The bus pulled away, taking Felix's plans for travel with it. Felix took his gaze off the place the bus had disappeared, and returned them to the bench that served as a bus stop.

Where he spotted something even more magical than the bus.

A brown-haired, rasta-capped kid with a set of reed pipes strung around his neck. And the best part? He had goat legs.

Felix was no stranger to half-human, half-animal creatures, but since the gods had been driven into the duat, sightings like these had become far and few in between. Plus, he'd been under house arrest, so you can only imagine how excited he was.

"Sadie!" He yelled at her through the glass between them. "Look!"

Sadie looked up. "What?" She mouthed.

"Look!" He yelled, and gestured at the goat boy across the street.

Sadie pressed her face against the glass and squinted across the street. She shrugged, not seeing what Felix did.

"Look! It's a half goat!" Felix yelled. "And I bet we'd see horns if he took his rasta cap off!"

Sadie didn't even look this time, just rolled her eyes. She walked away from the window.

"Gah!" Felix was tempted to bash his head into the bike rack. Why did he even try?

**Hey there! Sorry for the long wait, and the shortish chapter :S Haven't been feeling so well lately.**


	9. Opposites Don't Always Attract

Cleo bent over her notes, scanning the first page, then checking it against the book.

"July, 1944," she berated herself. "Not November."

"Who really cares?" Drew (unfortunately, Cleo's study partner) looked bored. "The test will be multiple choice, anyway."

Cleo didn't bother looking up. They'd been through this argument enough times over the course of the hour that she could probably recite it in her sleep by now. "We still need to know it," She said, and left it at that. Stressing the importance of education just didn't work with Drew. Drew didn't care about school, she didn't care what grade she got on the next history quiz. Cleo, however, did.

"As if," Drew snorted. "I'm not going to be a historian, so what's the point?" Then, in an even snottier tone, Drew added, "You are such a know-it-all. I wouldn't be surprised if you turned out to be Athena herself."

"Please, Drew, just leave me to my studying and I'll leave you to your…" Cleo finally glanced over at the other girl. "Nail painting."

"Works for me," Drew agreed, "if you'd just stop mumbling to yourself."

Cleo scowled. "Fine. I'll try and be more conscious of that."

Cleo locked eyes with Sadie across the library. Cleo's history teacher and Sadie's English teacher had both booked library tables on the same day.

_Help?_ Sadie mouthed, offering.

Cleo took in the state of her and Drew's table. Her notes all spread out, and Drew's nail polish balancing precariously on the edge of the table. She gave in.

_Yes, please._

Sadie stood and, abandoning her own class, strode over. "Hey, Drew. Enjoying yourself?" Sadie's tone was conversational, though not exactly friendly.

"Absolutely. Having the time of my life, in fact." Drew screwed the top onto the paint jar. She tucked it back into her bag, then looked up at Sadie, who hadn't moved. "Is there something you want?"

"You could always run to the opposite side of the Earth and never come back," Sadie shrugged. "But, I get the feeling that's not going to happen, so I'll settle for the opposite side of the library."

"Whatever," Drew rolled her eyes. "Have fun with Cleo and her World War II notes, I know I did."

"Well, you have fun with your D- in American History." Sadie shot at her retreating form. She plunked down in Drew's abandoned seat and wrinkled her nose. "Ugh. It smells like cheap perfume over here."

"Thanks," Cleo said. "She was driving me crazy."

"She drives everyone crazy." Sadie brushed off the gratitude. "So, World War II, huh?"

"Yeah." Cleo affirmed. "You?"

"'The Great Gastby'." Sadie sighed. "It's about a guy named Gastby. And, if you ask me, he isn't so great. He's lovesick for a girl that treats him horribly."

"It's not such a bad book." Cleo shrugged.

"Maybe not for you, but I never even liked reading in the first place. How am I supposed to live through a book that's, like, a thousand years old?"

"It was written in the 1920's, Sadie." Cleo gave a small smile. "That's hardly a thousand years old."

"Miss Kane," Mr. Beal snapped, his tall form approaching their table. "Would you care to explain what you're doing on this side of the library?"

"Just helping out a friend, sir." Sadie told him.

Mr. Beal narrowed his eyes at Cleo. "This isn't social time, ladies. Get back to work."

**I know, it's not much. Just a filler chapter, really. But oh well. I enjoyed writing it and I hope you enjoyed reading it.**


	10. Nothing Like a Blue Cookie

Walt watched the new kid (well, relatively new. The newest kid they had). Walt had only ever seen him in passing before, and what he'd heard had been only from Sadie. But the new semester brought new classes, and new classmates.

One thing Walt noticed right off the bat: the kid gave off weird vibes, vibes that made Walt jumpy. Vibes that made him think, _'this guy is most definitely…different.'_

But the vibes weren't what Walt was thinking of at the moment. Walt, rather, was watching him take a big bite out of a cookie.

Strangely enough, the cookie was blue.

"What's with that?" Walt asked. He hadn't meant to say it out loud, but when the guy turned around he didn't seem offended.

"I knew I was going to get that question sooner or later," he sent an amused smile at Walt.

"So… um, yeah. What's with the blue cookie?" Walt asked, more polite this time.

"I've just got a thing for blue food." The boy shrugged. A flicker of recognition lit his eyes. "Walt, right? Sadie's boyfriend."

"Yeah, Walt," Walt affirmed and held out a hand.

"Percy," Percy said as he shook it.

"So… are they good?" Walt ventured to ask, nodding at what remained of the blue cookie.

"The best," Percy reached into his backpack and fished out a bag. "Want one?" The bag had to be packed with what looked to be at least 20 cookies.

Walt couldn't help a laugh. "You get hungry often?"

"I'm always hungry for cookies."

Percy shook the bag, and Walt took the hint with a "Don't mind if I do."

And they were good. Really good. Walt went so far as to ask for seconds they were so good.

"Swim team, huh?" Walt brushed the crumbs on his desk.

"Yup. It's the only reason they put up with me and my… _shenanigans._" Percy gave a sardonic smile.

Walt wanted to ask about these 'shenanigans' but the tardy bell cut through his question, and the teacher laid any side conversations to rest directly after. So, Walt said nothing more.

However; around 5 minutes into the lesson movement caught his eye, and Walt turned his head to see Percy quietly munching on a cookie.

Another minute, and a nudge on the shoulder prompted Walt to turn again. This time the cookie was for him.

Walt still felt something was off about Percy. He sensed that there was something not quite right about the boy across the row. But, man, those cookies were good.

And so the two boys spent the rest of the lesson with one eye on the teacher, and the rest of their attention focused on sneaking cookies.

**Hey, guys! I'm back! Well, I finally wrote about Walt. For those of you who are itching for something other than filler, don't worry. If all goes according to plan, the big reveal should be next!**

**Also! I'm really sorry, I probably should have mentioned this in the very first chapter, but HoO has not happened! Again-I am sooooo sorry for not mentioning that earlier.**


	11. A Lost Dog

Felix lagged behind Cleo, weighted down by several shopping bags and the knowledge that he would soon be carrying more.

"Can we go home?" Felix groaned. "How about we get the rest another day?"

"Let's just get it all done now," Cleo encouraged. "We'll get it done and we won't have to go shopping for another couple of weeks."

"But my arms are about to fall off." Felix protested.

"You'll cope." Cleo said, unworried. "You're a trooper."

"Right," Felix muttered under his breath, scowling. "Like I haven't heard that one before."

Cleo sighed and looked around. "Well, I think I can minimize our trip to three more stops, if we really—" She stopped short as her eyes fell on a set of two very loud, very noteworthy twins.

Felix couldn't hear what they were saying from a distance, but passersby just rolled their eyes and continued on, so it couldn't have been so important.

That thought was revoked when he spotted how Cleo's face had changed. Shock had morphed into dread.

"You know what? I think we should go home." Cleo said.

Felix raised an eyebrow. "Who are they?"

"I'm not entirely sure." Cleo grabbed a bag and Felix's shoulder shot up—finally free of the weight. "Those boys are a number of things."

Cleo started pulling him away, but Felix stopped and said, "There's a bus stop right over there. Please don't make me walk."

Cleo sighed and looked back and forth between the twins and the bus station—which were only a few small storefronts apart.

"They can't be that bad." Felix said.

"Oh, they_ are_ that bad." Cleo said. "They're messy and loud and I'm pretty sure they're criminals."

Felix shucked a bag off and onto the ground. "Criminals? That seems a little harsh." He rubbed the pins and needles out of his arm.

Cleo made as if to say something, then scowled as she realized the twins had caught sight of them and were heading their way. She eyed the grocery bags. "If we leave the packages, we might be able to outrun them."

Felix rolled his eyes. "There is no way I am shopping for all these items a second time."

"Carrie! Caitlyn!" Travis called.

"Cleo!" Connor came up with her name. "Hey, Cleo, right?"

They came to a stop in front of Cleo. "Yes, that's my name."

"Hey, would you mind doing us a favor?" Connor asked.

"I'm sort of—"

"Our friend lost his dog." Travis explained, cutting Cleo off midsentence.

"Well," Connor chuckled, "we lost it for him, actually."

"And what makes you think I have time to scour the city for a lost dog?" Cleo asked.

"Oh," Connor said, taking the rejection in stride. "Well, keep your eyes peeled for her, would you?"

"She's hard to miss." Travis said.

"She's huge." Connor added.

"Or smallish."

"Depending on how you look at it."

Cleo rolled her eyes. "Could you be any vaguer?"

"Now that you mention it, she could look like anything from a poodle to a pickup truck." Connor frowned. "We'd better get looking, Trav."

"That we should." Travis agreed. "See you around, Cleo."

Connor tipped an imaginary hat. "Later."

Felix raised an eyebrow as they walked away. "They're weird."

"Yeah, buddy, I know."

"So… about the bus…" As he was speaking, it pulled away from the curb. "I guess we're walking."

-0-

_Wax… got it. Clay… got it. Cheerios… another day._

Cleo was checking items off her list when Felix came to a halt beside her.

"Come on, we'll miss dinner if we don't get home soon." Cleo reached out behind her to grab his hand. "I think Carter is making the last of the—"

"Cleo, look up from your list." Felix ordered.

"What?" She shot him a look.

He pointed.

"Oh my gods!" She stumbled backwards as if punched.

There, not ten feet away from them on the empty street, was a gigantic, black monster.

"What is that!?"

"You see it?" Felix actually looked surprised.

"Of course I see it. It's huge and right in front of us!" Cleo cried.

"She can see it!" The wonderment in Felix's tone was that of a child whose dreams just came true. "For once, she sees it!"

"Felix," Cleo grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him slowly backwards. "It's noticed us. No sudden movements."

Felix got over his awe and excitement, realizing just how much trouble they could be in.

"Just back away…. Slowly…" Cleo whispered the words, hardly daring to breathe. "It's got a collar," Felix pointed out with a shaky voice. "Maybe it's tame?"

"Let's not assume it is… Stay calm… and just AAAHHHHHH!" The beast lunged forward and Cleo screamed.

Felix dropped every single shopping bag he had on his person and stumbled back, just as Cleo had.

The thing barked; a giant, earthshaking, hair raising bark.

"Can we run now?" Felix hoped the answer was yes.

But, before Cleo could say anything, two figures bounded down the street.

"Ms. O'Leary!" One of them shouted.

"Hey girl!" Said the other.

"Connor?" Cleo said. She looked like she was going to faint. "Travis?"

Connor looked over, his eyes wide. "You found our dog."

"Dog." Cleo said. "Dog."

"I don't think that thing is a dog." Felix put in.

The beast flopped over, and Travis began to scratch her belly.

"Well, I suppose the more accurate term would be hound." Connor said.

"I don't think so." Felix disagreed again.

"Hell hound." Connor clarified.

"Hell hound?" Felix asked incredulously.

"You're looking right at it," Connor shrugged. "And actually seeing it, if the look on Cleo's face is any indication."

Cleo snapped out of it. "Hell hounds don't exist. They're just…greek …mythology..." She trailed off, suddenly lost in an impossible, unthinkable thought.

"Whatever floats your boat." Connor didn't argue.

"Just like telkhines don't exist, and that goat man." Felix muttered.

Connor overheard him and gave him an appraising look. "Exactly. You've got sharp eyes, don't you, kid?"

"Hey, Connor," Travis called. "Let's get going before Percy kills us!"

"Just a sec, Trav." Connor turned to Felix and Cleo.

There was an awkward pause. Then Connor said, "No one will believe you, so it's not worth saying anything."

"Yeah, I kinda have that one worked out." Felix said.

Connor began to back away.

"Hey, Connor?" Cleo stopped him. "We… we should talk sometime. I think there's a lot we could learn from each other."

"Anytime," Connor grinned and winked.

"I didn't mean… I mean, not like_ that_…" Cleo spluttered.

"See you around," Connor called.

"Bye, Cleo." Travis waved.

The two brothers disappeared, along with the hell hound.

Cleo snatched up the bags. "Come on, Felix, let's get home. And let me tell Carter." She added as an afterthought.

**There it is, guys! Before you say anything—sorry if it isn't as big as you were expecting, but I didn't want to make it that cliché "I'm Egyptian, you're Greek, let's be friends" thing.**

**I may post more chapters, if anything really awesome occurs to me, but for now, this is all I have planned. **

_**PLEASE READ!**_

_**QUICK WARNING**_**: I am going to be without internet for the next two weeks starting tomorrow, so I won't be able to respond to reviews until then. Please don't think I'm being rude if I don't get back to you right away, it's just that I won't even know who reviewed and what not.**


	12. Boring AN

**Guys, I just want to clear something up real fast because a lot of people were asking: the last chapter was originally the end to the story. I had always planned on not really going into how they reacted with each other once they knew, and I still do. I just wanted it to be a sort of 'neither of you know, haha, but the rest of us do' kind of story.**

** Then I realized it was only really Cleo who suspected. Next, I went on a big class trip to Europe (hence the two week absence) and because the hotels didn't provide free internet, I had a whole lotta one-on-one time with my notebook.**

** So, now I have a ****few ****ideas. They're drabbles, mostly, so I'll probably group them together and post them at once when I have them edited. But those updates are going to be few and far between, as I don't know how often ideas will come or how long it will take until I'm happy with a chapter. **

**And, because I'm always severely disappointed when an update is really just a boring author's note, I'll leave you with some snippets that might maybe make the final cut:**

_You need something other than penguins in your life. _Sadie had said.

"I'm Felix, and I already know how to swim." Felix spoke up.

"But we've been to this movie before." "You've _fallen asleep_ in this movie before. And then I couldn't hear over your snores."

"Do you ever think that maybe we aren't the only ones out there?"

"But that's crazy talk." Sadie kindly pointed out.

**Thank you guys so, so, so much for all your encouragement. What was originally a onexshot has turned into a story that I really enjoy writing and has introduced me to all of you lovelies!**

**It really means a lot to me, and I just wanted you to know that!**

**-Killerbee07**


End file.
